Month: August 2014

WhatsApp mute function can really come in handy, especially when you are in one of those massive WhatsApp group that talks about everything and anything. Don’t get me wrong, I like big groups, it’s a very effective way to massively reach out to everyone at one go. But sometimes, sometimes you just need that peace and quiet, say like when you are trying to complete your dissertation. Sadly the badge notifications or count bubbles doesn’t seem to obey the mute instructions. So when that numbers keep adding up next to the icon even AFTER you’ve muted the conversations, you know something must be done!!

TouchWiz Badge Notifications / Count Bubbles

So after some Googling, I found this article which is exactly what I need. Turns out you just need to disable the BadgeProvider service. It’s apparently a uniquely Samsung TouchWiz thingie – trying to imitate iOS count bubbles I think. In short these are the steps I took and it worked perfectly! (I’m using Samsung Galaxy Note 2, running non-rooted 4.4.2)

For the longest time I have been using SMS Backup+ and Backup Text for WhatsApp to backup my whatsapp conversations. But ever since WhatsApp changed their encryption format to crypt7, both apps stopped working. Actually the last backup from SMS Backup+ to Gmail was in March 2014. I only realized it now.

The quickest solution to this predicament is to use WhatsApp Tri-Crypt. But to use it without problem you will need to root your phone. Fortunately there’s a workaround for non-rooted devices. The following is copied from the description of the app on Google Play Store.

Please download https://github.com/AbinashBishoyi/WhatsApp-Key-DB-Extractor/archive/master.zip and follow the following steps: 1.) Extract “master.zip” on your computer maintaining the directory structure. 2.) Browse to the extracted folder and click on WhatsAppKeyExtract.bat.3.) Few have complained that it’s keep on asking to install Java though Java is already installed, then you can click on WhatsAppKeyExtractNoJavaCheck.bat.4.) Connect your device via USB, unlock your screen and wait for “Full backup” to appear. (If you have never used USB Debugging before, you may also need to verify the fingerprint.)5.) Leave the password field blank and tap on “Back up my data”.6.) The key will be copied back onto your machine in such a way that WhatsApp Tri-Crypt will work.

I checked the bat file, it seems to be doing what it should and doesn’t look malicious.

So after many tries of both methods, somehow it magically worked!

Overnight my Gmail is flooded with whatsapp backups with label:whatsapp. At least now I know it works!

Why I am so keen on backing up my WhatsApp text? Other than my archiving instinct, it’s also because the WhatsApp images folder is taking up 700+MB on my phone. I suspect that’s the reason why my phone has been so sluggish recently, what with only 400+MB left on storage. The optimum space I realized is about 1+GB. Then the phone will not be so sluggish. Not sure why, maybe that’s the amount of space needed for the swap files to work properly?

Once I backed everything up, I deleted the 700+MB folder and voila! My phone is as smooth as tofu again! Wheeeee!

(Now how I wish there’s an app that automatically backup all my WhatsApp texts. Right now SMS Backup+ only backs up individual conversations. It doesn’t work on group conversations yet. That’s why I am using Backup Text for WhatsApp to export the group conversations into HTML conversations format. It’s a manual process and it’s quite tedious. Maybe this is the opportunity for me to make my own Android app.)